Design Director

Morgan Consulting Engineers; Abu Dhabi Emirate; On-site; AED 350,000 - 450,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent consulting firm in Abu Dhabi is seeking a Design Director to provide executive leadership across all design functions. The role focuses on multidisciplinary coordination, ensuring design excellence, compliance with UAE regulations, and mentoring project teams. Ideal candidates will possess a strong background in healthcare design and leadership capabilities, aiming to innovate and enhance internal design practices.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in multidisciplinary design leadership with a focus on healthcare.
• Extensive experience with UAE/GCC regulatory frameworks.
• Preferred certifications: Chartered status and sustainability credentials.

Responsibilities

• Define and implement the firm's design strategy and standards.
• Oversee design performance and manage escalated issues.
• Mentor Project Managers for leadership development.

Skills

Strategic design leadership

Resource forecasting

BIM oversight

Stakeholder negotiation

Regulatory compliance

Team coaching

Education

Bachelor's degree in Architecture

Master’s preferred

Job description

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The Design Director provides executive leadership across all design functions at MCE. This role ensures multidisciplinary coordination, technical excellence, regulatory compliance, and strategic alignment across the design portfolio. Serving as the senior-most authority on design delivery, the Design Director bridges the pre-award technical strategy, active project design oversight, and post-award milestone validation. The role also supports and mentors Project Managers and design leads to elevate firmwide design capability.

Key Responsibilities

A. Strategic & Technical Design Leadership

• Define and implement the firm’s overarching design strategy, delivery standards, and excellence benchmarks.
• Develop standardized design planning frameworks, including milestone sequencing, coordination cycles, and authority submission integration.
• Lead milestone design reviews and act as the final approver for high-risk or escalated deliverables.
• Oversee QA / QC governance and ensure full compliance with UAE codes, SEHA / DOH regulations, and international healthcare design standards.
• Direct BIM implementation, digital delivery protocols, and adoption of emerging design technologies.
• Provide hands-on design management support where PM capabilities require strengthening.

B. Design Delivery Oversight & Risk Management

• Monitor and oversee design performance across the active project portfolio, ensuring progress aligns with planning benchmarks and quality thresholds.
• Lead resolution of escalated coordination challenges, technical design risks, and cross-discipline interface conflicts.
• Track portfolio-level design schedules and identify emerging risks; initiate early interventions to safeguard milestone achievement and design integrity.
• Chair high-stakes design coordination meetings and directly manage complex integration issues.
• Review and authorize key design packages prior to authority and client submission.
• Approve and optimize resource allocations across projects based on firmwide capacity and strategic priorities.
• Maintain a live view of discipline-level utilization and projected demand; address over / under-capacity.
• Coordinate with department heads to balance senior and junior staff deployment across project workloads.
• Support technical recruitment and external consultant onboarding to address skill gaps or capacity constraints.

D. Department & Team Development

• Mentor Project Managers, discipline leads, and senior designers to grow internal design leadership capabilities.
• Establish knowledge-sharing, training, and design leadership development programs across the organization.
• Ensure succession planning, technical competency tracking, and capability mapping for the design team.
• Coach PMs through structured delegation and feedback to transition toward more robust design management responsibility.

Tendering & Business Development :

• Define design input for technical proposals, including durations, narratives, layouts, and team structuring.
• Align design strategy with pursuit positioning and client expectations.
• Lead concept-stage interviews, proposal presentations, and design differentiators to strengthen win probability.

Finance :

• Validate milestone completions and align with invoicing schedules.
• Support variation and claim justifications for additional design scope.
• Monitor design phase profitability and track discipline-level resource burn.

Project Management :

• Review and validate project-level design schedules and planning strategies.
• Ensure alignment with QA checkpoints, milestone definitions, and resource availability.
• Provide technical input and escalation support for complex or delayed deliverables.
• Participate in senior technical recruitment for design leads, BIM specialists, and key discipline heads.
• Define evolving skill set needs based on pipeline complexity and project typologies.
• Recommend targeted training and support succession planning within the design function.

F. Innovation, Compliance & Continuous Improvement

• Lead R&D efforts in sustainable design, digital delivery, and healthcare innovation.
• Monitor authority requirement changes and ensure internal workflows are updated accordingly.
• Conduct structured post-project reviews and implement feedback into future process improvements.
• Drive automation, modularization, and design standardization through BIM libraries and optimized templates.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Architecture (Master’s preferred).
• 10+ years of experience in multidisciplinary design leadership, with a strong focus on healthcare projects.
• Extensive experience with UAE / GCC regulatory frameworks and authority submissions.
• Preferred certifications :
• Chartered status (RIBA, AIA, CEng, or equivalent)
• LEED AP / WELL AP / ESTIDAMA or equivalent sustainability credentials

Core Competencies

• Strategic design leadership across disciplines
• Resource forecasting and capacity optimization
• BIM and digital delivery oversight
• Client interfacing and stakeholder negotiation
• QA / QC framework implementation
• Regulatory compliance and authority engagement
• Team coaching and leadership development
• Financial and commercial design awareness
• Strong understanding of FIDIC or other international contract standards.

Additional Attributes

• Proven track record delivering major healthcare facilities in the UAE / GCC
• Experience managing multidisciplinary teams of 20+ professionals
• Established relationships with regulatory bodies (DHA, DOH, HAAD, ADM)
• Willingness to provide hands-on support during transitional phases or escalation events
• Site construction and Design experience

Seniority level

Seniority level

Director

Employment type

Employment type

Full-time

Job function

Job function

Design

Architecture and Planning and Design Services

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Director Design • Abu Dhabi Emirate, United Arab Emirates